Flipster

Flipster is a centralized perpetual futures and spot trading exchange that launched as AQX in June 2020 before rebranding under its current name in July 2023. The platform is engineered around low latency execution, deep liquidity, and zero trading fees across more than 400 perpetual pairs, with SOL listed as one of its flagship assets alongside BTC and ETH. As of mid-2026 the exchange serves over one million users across nearly 200 countries and recorded $117 billion in trading volume during 2024, representing 856 percent year-on-year growth.

Core Mechanism

Flipster operates as a centralized order book exchange focused on derivatives. Users fund accounts with crypto — no fiat on-ramp is available — complete mandatory KYC, and trade perpetual futures or spot pairs through the web platform or mobile apps. The exchange uses a zero-fee model on both perpetual and spot trades as its primary competitive differentiator. Maker and taker fees start at 0.025 percent for high-volume users but the default for most users is no trading fee, with Flipster monetizing through spreads on certain products and fees on yield redemptions.

Leverage on perpetual futures goes up to 100x across major pairs and up to 50x on SOL perpetuals specifically. TradingView charts are integrated directly into the trading interface, giving access to full charting and technical analysis tooling without leaving the platform.

Features

Perpetual Futures. The core product covers more than 400 trading pairs spanning cryptocurrencies and traditional finance instruments including XAUUSDT (gold) and crude oil. SOL perpetuals are available with up to 50x leverage. The platform was first to market with USD1 perpetual futures for BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and DOGE, a product launched through a partnership with World Liberty Financial that uses their USD1 stablecoin as collateral and settlement currency.

Spot Trading. Flipster offers spot trading on a narrower selection of six cryptocurrencies including SOL. The limited spot selection is a deliberate trade-off to concentrate liquidity rather than fragment it across long-tail assets.

Copy Trading. Traders can browse a leaderboard of top performers and subscribe to automatically mirror their perpetual trading entries and exits in real time. The social trading layer includes strategy performance metrics, risk parameters, and follower counts to help users evaluate managers before subscribing.

Flipster Earn. Users can deposit USDT, BTC, ETH, or USDe (Ethena's synthetic dollar) to earn daily yield on idle balances without locking assets. Earn balances simultaneously function as margin collateral for perpetual trading positions, meaning users do not have to choose between earning and trading. APRs are variable and updated daily or weekly depending on the asset. A Premium Earn USDT product issues an on-platform asset redeemable back to USDT at any time, providing enhanced rewards in exchange for holding the platform-denominated form.

Dynamic Earn. A newer on-chain yield product developed in partnership with Narsil Labs, Dynamic Earn deploys USDT capital across diversified on-chain strategies including lending markets, fixed-income products, and delta-neutral positions, targeting 10 percent APR. Up to 85 percent of subscribed capital remains usable as trading collateral on Flipster. There is a 10 percent performance fee on profits, no standard redemption fee, and a 0.25 percent fee for instant redemptions. The product abstracts away wallet management and bridging — users interact entirely through the Flipster interface while the underlying execution is on-chain via Narsil's strategy contracts.

Launchpool. A planned staking product that will allow users to stake assets to receive tokens from new project listings. As of mid-2026 the feature is in development.

Rewards Hub and VIP Tiers. An incentive stack including referral programs, seasonal trading competitions with weekly and monthly P&L leaderboards, a Superstars loyalty program, and a VIP tier system that reduces fees further at higher volume thresholds.

Tokens and Assets

Flipster does not issue a native exchange token. The platform's earn and rewards programs are denominated in supported trading assets (USDT, BTC, ETH, USDe) rather than a proprietary token. SOL occupies a prominent position: it is featured in the app store title ("Trade BTC, ETH and SOL"), listed as a major spot asset, available as a perpetual futures pair with up to 50x leverage, and included as one of the launch pairs for USD1-settled perpetuals through the World Liberty Financial partnership. Flipster also integrated TON deposits in June 2024, expanding on-chain deposit rails.

Security and Audits

Flipster earned an "AAA" security rating from CER.live in September 2025, placing it among the 13 most secure global exchanges alongside Coinbase and Kraken. Cold wallet custody uses MPC (Multi-Party Computation) technology through Fireblocks, which eliminates single-key risk for custodied user funds. Proof-of-Reserves audits are conducted by Hacken, an independent blockchain security firm. The exchange holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification, an international standard for information security management systems. A public bug bounty program provides an additional layer of community-driven vulnerability reporting. The platform states that all customer assets are held 1:1 on a full-reserve basis.

On the regulatory front, Flipster is registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Poland and received in-principle approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for UAE expansion. The exchange is available in nearly 200 countries but excludes the United States, China, Iran, and Nigeria due to regulatory restrictions.

Team

Flipster was co-founded by Yongjin Kim and Jaewon An. The leadership team includes Youngsun Shin as Head of Product and Partnerships, the primary public spokesperson on product vision and market strategy, and Justin Hong serving as Chief Information Security Officer. The company is headquartered in Panama. The GitHub organization for the underlying platform infrastructure is listed under the handle teamprex, reflecting the technical team that originally built the AQX predecessor platform before the Flipster rebrand in July 2023.

Solana Fit

Flipster's connection to Solana is primarily as a high-performance trading venue for SOL and Solana ecosystem assets rather than as a protocol built on Solana. SOL is one of only six spot-tradeable assets on the platform, a notable concentration given the 400-plus perpetuals catalog, and it is featured prominently in marketing materials and app store positioning. The USD1 perpetual futures partnership introduced SOL as one of the first pairs in a new settlement currency paradigm, giving SOL traders access to a non-USDT collateral option. For traders seeking a mobile-first or web-based interface with zero fees, copy trading, and simultaneous yield on idle capital, Flipster targets the segment of the Solana user base that prefers centralized execution infrastructure over on-chain perpetuals protocols.